Responses: 70

The U.S. immigration system is broken and everyone has an opinion on how best to fix it, especially those who have had to endure the problems within the system as a beneficiary or petitioner. If you had your way, what is the first thing that you would change about the immigration system?

Introducing the Retirement Visa

I love Florida as if it was my home. I would like to immigrate here and buy a house. However, the US does not offer a visa for retirement people. It should be offered because every retired immigrant would bring his/her foreign income to U.S. which would increase the U.S. economy and decrease debt. In the hope that Pres. Obama and Congress would create a retirement visa, I started to study here.

—Guest Sunny

Immigration: Set them free

I would set the undocumented immigrants "free." Set up a process for all undocumented immigrants in good standing to become citizens of the U.S. It sure would increase our revenue for federal and state taxes.

—Guest Raymond Hickson

Bonafide good caracter

If my family member has been living in the United States for a period of no less than 15 years with out departing the country, and paying taxes during that tim,e and only having two speeding tickets in that time, I would say that she is of good moral character. Now because of the new laws she can not even renew her drivers license because she can not show the proper I-94 or I-245 form from immigration to renew and she will not be able to drive her 10 year old U.S.-born daughter to school. I am a U.S. Citizen and have applied for her legal immigrant status here since 2001 and she will have to wait another 8.5 years to obtain her legal status, for a total of 17 years. I believe this is totally unacceptable being that we have followed the letter of the law. We definitely need immigration reform for the people to follow the legal channels of the law. The government needs better ways for U.S. abiding citizens to follow the law or we will break the laws .

—Guest tony

Reunite Families

I think an aspect worth focusing on is the reunification of families. My husband (Mexican) was denied a visa, so we are living abroad in Mexico right now. It pretty much sucks. I definitely know why people want to live in the U.S. When we get to come back to the States one day, I definitely won't take so much for granted. My husband didn't commit any crimes while he was in the U.S. He was there illegally and got a 10-year ban when we went for the interview for his visa. We spent over $4,000 USD and got denied. We should never have even tried to do it legally. If he would have just stayed there without papers, at least we would still be there and not be stuck here! Reform is a must!

—Guest Stephanie

New Rules For Immigrant Legislation

The immigration system needs new rules and it should not only be based on the government but the people as well. I became a permanent resident of the U.S. and am very thankful that I got this far. My family came to this country 14 years ago in search for a better life. I will not lie, there are some illegals who take freedom for granted, but most just want to get ahead in life; but the system is just making it very hard for these people. If we could just give immigrants a fair chance to prove their intentions the government would be surprised at all the good contributions these people could do to help this country. Many just try to stay alive and out of the government's way while also helping out their families still in their original country, and the truth is that without most immigrants the U.S. would not be whole. We need these people who are willing to work for even the least amount of money to help our economy and this country for the better.

—Guest Judith

Second chance

Give people a second chance (the principle the USA was built on) instead of rejecting them for "moral turpitude" nonsense.

—Guest anon

Change the immigration system

I think that all immigrants that do NOT have a criminal record other than a traffic infraction should be able to be legalized. No matter what their age or handicap/disability.

—Guest Lydia Gil

Amnesty after 10 years

DHS is doing a good job securing the border. Congress should grant amnesty only to people who were here more than 10 years and can prove it. They should have no criminal records and 5 American citizens must sign a letter confirming they are good and their stay in the U.S. will not jeopardize anyone.

—Guest mike

Desperate need for immigration reform

As a nation of immigrants and strict laws, the USA should come up with a comprehensive reform that legalizes illegal aliens. I think a strict fee should be charged to all those who stayed in this country without paying taxes because it's not fair to Americans. But those unlawful residents who got involved in criminal activities such as drug dealing, prostitution and burglary should be detained and deported.

—Guest angela

Fixing the Immigration Problem

I think we need to abolish the anchor baby law and do a nationwide sweep. If you're a citizen, be proud to show you're American! I'm a Native American (Apache) and it saddens and maddens me to see the state of our country. Next, I would do away with printing in Spanish. This is America and we speak English here. That's my thoughts on the U.S. Immigration System.

—sahammond

Stay if you have contributed to society

I think if you have behaved yourself and worked or gone to school and paid for it, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to stay. The only thing these raids are doing is ripping families apart. Meanwhile, murder and rape offenders are running around because the sheriff wants to be on TV.

—Guest LEO

They should leagalize

I think they should just make money off of them by charging them for temporary visas for staying in United States charge them by each year renewal fees and then make them pay taxes or just charge them like 25k too make them a permanent resident of the US. And make money off of them too bring the economy back.

—Guest Joseph Kay

Deport the criminals

We should not kick out the illegal immigrants that are here to get a job, education, and pay their taxes. They just want peace and a better life. But we should kick out the ones with major crimes like gang banging and drug dealing.

—Guest flower

Legal VS Illegal

The immigration system in this country is broken from top to bottom. We allocate 140,000 skilled worker visas every year but part of that allocation goes to countries that do not use their quota. These visas simply go unused. We currently have an 8 year waiting list for nurses to enter the country. An occupation that is in critical shortage in the US. Also physical therapists. Simply put, we do a better job of stopping legal professionals from entering the country than illegals. Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to illegals and it just opened the flood gates for more illegals to enter the country.

—Guest Bob

Have a Dream?

The government should give permanent residence to those who have paid taxes for many years or those who are good and smart students. These are the type of people that the nation needs. Illegals are an asset to this country if turned legal. They will pay taxes and help improve life. They are not scum!